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Conscious entrepreneurs benefit from legal advice

By Michael H. Cohen, Esq.

Conscious entrepreneurs ground their ideas in the practical realities of a highly regulated society.

That's why I recommend the Entrepreneur's Legal Toolkit: Contract Essentials.  It's contract legal education in box (a downloadable mp3 actually) for every business owner.

For those in the health care industry it is also important to monitor changes in regulation that affect the compliance obligations of various businesses.

As health care reform gears up, many providers and entrepreneurs in the health care and wellness industries are finding themselves subject to the increasing demands of endless regulation.  Those who neglect the rules or claim ignorance do so at their peril.  Conscious entrepreneurs must be conscious also of the importance of getting the right advice.

This week, one of my clients was essentially squeezed out of business by excessive dependence on an insurance company that refused to reimburse a backlog of claims and effectively jammed the client's cash flow.  Another neglected to opt out of Medicare, and instead relied in good faith on conflicting instructions from the carrier, leaving themselves open to charges of fraud and abuse. A third violated state anti-kickback rules by structuring a compensation arrangement in a way that illegally split fees.  It takes care to navigate the rules.

Even the rules governing what goes on the label of a new dietary supplement or cosmetic product are dense, complex, and precise in a finicky way, down to the font required for certain parts of the claim.  Recently, I helped one of my clients successfully transition an herbal cosmetics business out of the garage (or kitchen) and into the national marketplace through effective and efficient attention to labeling and other compliance issues.

I want to encourage readers to join us on the blog for regular updates on many topics critical to entrepreneurial success in health care and other industries as well. It seems that every day there are more and more rules (for example, did you know that if you are an acupuncturist in a New York clinic, you have to wear a badge, and if you don't you could lose your license?). An ounce of legal prevention is worth a pound of cure.

My practice continues to work with entrepreneurs on drafting contracts and general business law issues in a general outside counsel role.  So many people ink deals on the back of a napkin or on a handshake, only to find out later, once they are really successful, that their lack of attention to legal finesse at the outset came back with a vengeance later.  Lawsuits are expensive; contract drafting and review are much more cost-efficient and effective.

Or as I like to say, "don't roll the dice, get legal advice."  Feel free to call or send your referrals to see how I can help.

ed on Clinical Evidence.

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Our law office has attorneys with legal experience in FDA matters, including guiding clients involved in health care delivery, group medical and private medical practice, who are concerned about issues at the interface of federal and state law, concerned about medical board discipline or medical malpractice liability issues.  We also review and draft informed consent forms and guide clients concerning a variety of health care law issues.

If you have legal questions concerning telemedicine and telehealth practices, HIPAA legal issues, health care reform questions, or other health law matters in New York, California, Massachusetts, Washington DC, and other states, contact a lawyer who knows the rules.

Consult an experienced health care law attorney who knows complementary medicine and integrative medicine for legal advice pertaining to any project involving allied health or CAM professionals.

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Michael H. Cohen is a health care law and business law attorney providing business legal advice to green entrepreneurs and companies, and health care law advice to businesses and physicians, acupuncturists, naturopathic doctors, homeopaths and others in the holistic health, wellness, and green industries. He works with telemedicine, medical devices, and cutting-edge technologies and gives clear legal advice to grow your business.

As a founding attorney of a law firm at the cutting edge of health care and business law, he represents enterprises poised for vertical lift, whose leaders are conscious, intuitive, and committed to shaping a better world. Michael also advises medical spas and integrative medicine clinics, physicians, chiropractors, naturopathic physicians, massage therapists, energy healers, nutritionists and herbalists, dietary supplement and cosmetics companies, and businesses with bio-energy and other technologies and medical devices. The website also offers the Entrepreneur's Legal Toolkit as a series of legal guides to businesses.

See what clients say about his work, visit the Legal Services page for information on business law and healthcare legal services where alternative billing arrangements (such as a flat rate or project fee) can be discussed for discrete projects such as incorporation for entrepreneurs, review and drafting of business contracts, trademark, and package health law services.

Our healthcare law and business law firm also provides special expertise to attorneys and law firms whose clients are involved in wellness industry projects or who require guidance regarding fee-splitting, Stark, anti-kickback, medical board discipline, medical malpractice liability, HIPAA, Medicare, and other health law and regulatory compliance issues.

To speak with a lawyer about health care law issues pertaining to complementary and alternative medicine, or to consult a business lawyer about laws and legal issues for entrepreneurs and new enterprises that are seeking legal advice, contact our law firm today.

Full post as published by Complementary And Alternative Medicine Law Blog on December 13, 2010 (boomark / email).